MTA offers new details on Second Avenue Subway’s second phase

The MTA is getting ready to move forward with plans to kick off phase two of its Second Avenue Subway project that involves extending the Q line to East 125th Street, where it will connect with the Metro-North Railroad, and in a presentation held in late July, the agency provided insight on how the extension could affect East Harlem residents and business owners, reports Patch.

The MTA released a Supplemental Environmental Assessment of the plan that detailed the scope of the design and construction of the project. While the agency is still conducting preliminary engineering work and working to determine where they will need to build station entrances and other infrastructure, they have already determined that the agency will need to acquire private property near the new East 106th, 116th, and 125th Street stations that will end up displacing homes and businesses, though the agency is planning on providing relocation assistance and compensation to those impacted.

MTA spokesperson Andrei Berman notes that the MTA is working on determining how the agency will proceed with assisting those who stand to be displaced and though nothing has been set in stone yet, it is possible that the MTA will follow a model similar to that used in phase one of the Second Avenue Subway project.

The projected nine-year project will also disrupt the lives of those who aren’t being displaced as well. During the presentation, the MTA acknowledged that the projected nine-year project to construct the new stations in East Harlem will cause several other disruptions, including increased traffic, noise, dust emissions near the work sites, and relocated bus stops.

The second phase of the Second Avenue Subway project hasn’t fully secured federal funding just yet, but has been given the green light to begin project development, which includes the right to incur costs on “work necessary to complete the necessary environmental review process and as much engineering and design activity as MTA believes is necessary.” In order to meet its 2027 deadline, the agency would need to begin construction in 2019.

• MTA Reveals New Details About Second Avenue Subway In Harlem [Patch]